Mauricio Pochettino wants us to start 2017 as we mean to go on with a good performance and three points at Watford.
We travel to Vicarage Road on New Year’s Day (Sunday, January 1) looking for our fourth consecutive Premier League victory and in buoyant mood after Wednesday’s fine 4-1 win at Southampton.
Ahead of the match, which will see us reach the half-way point of this Premier League campaign, Mauricio has challenged his players to produce the goods on the pitch in order to carry our momentum forward into January.
“That is always our objective,” he said when asked if he wanted more of the same level of performance we saw for much of the game on the south coast in midweek.
“How we finished the year was very good. We broke the record for a (calendar) year with 71 points in 2016, that is important for us and to start the year with a good performance and hopefully with a victory would be fantastic too.
“Maybe I repeat the same thing but it’s always difficult to play in the Premier League and we expect another tough game. It’s like a London derby again and Watford are strong, powerful and they have a clear idea of how they want to play.
“I think we feel strong and we want to keep going, to try to improve and we know we need to be ready.”
Mauricio on tough encounter at Watford last December
“That’s normal because Watford are a very good team. It’s always tough to play there, like Southampton. You have to be ready in your mind to fight with many games in this period.”
On playing against Younes Kaboul, Etienne Capoue and Heurelho Gomes at Watford
“They were our players and for different reasons we split our ways. I’m sure it’s a special game for them, us as well. It will be nice to see them.”